Polly already had Lily and James at the table eating their breakfast when I walked in with Benjamin on my hip, still wearing my nightdress. "Good morning." I smiled, bending down to kiss both kids on the head. "Morning, mama." they chourased back with mouths full of food. "Alright, Pol?" I asked, pouring myself a cup of tea with one hand. "Yes, are you?" she asked, watching me closely. "Fine." I replied, taking a sip from the steaming mug.
"John's car is parked outside." Polly commented, watching me closely. "Yeah, he's just getting dressed then he'll be down." I told her, not wanting to be interrogated about my marriage. "Everything alright between you two?" she continued. "We're fine, Aunt Pol." John told her, walking into the kitchen as he put his blazer on. "Daddy!" James and Lily squealed, jumping down from the table to hug Johns legs. I smiled as I watched him pick them both up, looking at their butter and jam covered faces. "You two messy monkeys need a wash." he told them, before placing them back in their seats to continue their breakfast.
He then came over to me, kissing Benjamins head before pressing a kiss to my lips and taking the cup of tea out of my hands. He took a gulp as he leant against the cabinet beside me, Polly watching our every move. She seemed to be thinking about what to say as there was a silence. "You both know what you're doing today?" she asked, eventually going back to her paper. "Yeah, I've gotta go meet Tommy and Arthur in a bit." John said, taking another gulp from his cup. "And I'm meeting Alfie in a few hours and will be travelling with him to the house." I added, shifting Benjamin on my hip as he began to squirm.
"Mary will be looking after the kids today, I have business in the city." she told us, lighting a cigarette. "Okay, we won't be back late hopefully." John told her, finishing his cup. "You're both coming back here?" Polly asked, her eyes flickering up to us. "Yes, Pol. We will both be coming here." John told her, placing the cup in the sink before turning to me. "I better go." he told me. I nodded, rising on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. "See ya later." I smiled as I rested back on my heels. "I love you." he told me, putting his cap on his head and heading for the door. "See ya later, kids. Pol." he called before leaving. Polly was watching me when I turned back to her, she was trying to figure something out. "Right, I better get ready." I told her, handing her Benjamin before retreating back upstairs.
Tatiana walked into the dark basement first, followed by Tommy. "Your jeweller and your sister." Tatiana told him. Tommy ran his eyes over me, making sure I was unharmed before turning his gaze to Alfie. "I don't think they trust me, Tommy." Alfie said, gesturing to the ropes that bound his wrists. "Mr Solomons is the only jeweller that I trust in London." Tommy said. "Yes, trust. Yes. Might have to add that on the old invoice." Alfie mused as Romanov cut him free. "Evelyn Shelby. It's so good to see you again." Tatiana told me, smiling coyly. I watched her for a moment.
"As was agreed, our jeweller will now select items to a total of £70,000." I told her, showing her that I was unfazed by both her and her guards. "Yes, when you have selected your chosen items, they will be put into a box and stored. When you have fulfilled your part of the deal, the box will be delivered to you." she explained, before walking across the room to her mother. Tommy looked at me for a moment, there was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. "May I just start, right, by saying that I may choose to stay here and just starve to death and choke on sapphires rather than ever go back to the fucking world again?" Alfie joked although I recognised an undertone of discomfort.
Romanov said something in Russian. "Yeah, well, there is a good reason for that, you know, little man. Because my shop, right, is just above a rum house, so all the.." Alfie started before he was cut off. "You speak Russian?" Tatiana questioned, confused. "I do, yeah. I do. Cos of me mum. Yeah, my mother. You people, all right, you hunted my mum with dogs through the snow. Yeah." Alfie told her, getting in the face of the uniformed man. "But today, right, is for forgiveness, ain't it? For selection." he said, picking up a torch and going to the outskirts of the small room. "So, now… Hello… Right. I think it's fair to say, yeah, 1,500." Alfie said, putting a necklace carefully on the table. "1,500?" the older woman laughed. "All right, I'll give you 1,800." he conceded. "I know the current market value. 18 it is." she told him. "That's very gracious of you." he thanked. I noticed that Tatianna was watching Tommy and I closely. Her eyes flickering between us both in the dim lighting.
"Right, then. How about say we look at this. This is a nice little bit going on there, isn't it?" Alfie said, sitting beside her. "Oh, but that was a gift from Tsar Nicholas." the man interrupted. "I ain't asking you, though, am I? I ain't asking you." Alfie told him. "All right. I come here to do business, offer my professional services. If you keep interrupting me, I won't be able to focus and do my job, you understand?" he continued. "Mr Romanov, let me remind you, we were told to come here and choose what we like and now we have chosen." I said, earning a glare from Romanov and an intrigued look from Tatiana. "Why don't you continue, Mr Solomons?" I added.
"Tsar Nicholas give you that? I'll give you four." Alfie offered. "Five, with the royal provenance." she told him before removing her necklace. "Done." Alfie muttered. "Right, Rumplestiltskin, let's go over here and have a look what's in these boxes. Evie, love, come pick some of this." Alfie said, standing and gesturing for me to follow him to the boxes. I went willingly, crossing in front of Tommy and feeling his eyes on me for a second. I pointed to various things, not really knowing a lot about jewellery. "Two. That's much nicer. Ten. That there is definitely a five." he reeled off as he picked each thing up and threw it onto the table. He turned to me, frowning slightly.
"Are you keeping score?" he asked, lightheartedly. "Of course. 23,800." I smiled at him and he grinned back. "Another five." he called out, throwing a string of pearls on the table. "Seven." the older woman countered. "Six." I argued. "Let's call it six, eh?" Tommy agreed. "Three. Evie, pick a number between one and nine." Alfie told me. "Eight." I smiled. "Perfect. 4,800." he grinned. "Beauty. Look at that." Alfie commented, lifting up a necklace. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Romanov admitted. "That is splendid." Alfie continued and I fought a smile. "Splendid, yes." Romanov agreed. "Beautiful, is it not?" Alfie added. "It is." Romanov finished. "It's a work of art. You recognise this work, do you?" Alfie quizzed. "Immediately." Romanov answered. "I'm guessing, right, that all the bad ideas around here, they're you. They are you, aren't they? Hmm?" Alfie questioned, turning to look at the man now. "What do you mean?" he replied, sounding scared. "Yeah. Tommy, Evie, see this, right? It's got paste in it. That's paste." Alfie told us, bringing me and the necklace over to Tommy so we could both look. "Let me tell you something, kids. Somebody comes into my shop with some paste like this, usually what I make them do, right, is fucking swallow it." Alfie continued, turning to look at Romanov. "Eh? What game are you playing?" Alfie asked, lowly.
Everyone's eyes were on Alfie, apart from Tatiana who was still looking between me and Tommy. "Mr Solomons… shall we, er… shall we clean it up?" Tommy asked, coming around me to stand behind Alfie. "Be careful." Romanov warned. There was a moment of silence before Alfie turned to Tommy. "Yeah. Yeah. Right, what we got?" Alfie muttered, taking a step away from the table. "37,600." Tommy told him. Alfie thought about this for a moment. "Well, do you have any eggs?" Alfie asked, sitting at the table. The Russians looked confused. "I am simply asking…" Alfie continued. "Faberge is not part of the deal. We would not offer you Faberge eggs." Romanov stated.
"Mr Romanov, my jeweller here, he advises me to insist on Faberge." Tommy told Romanov as Tatiana got up from the table. "It's a deal-breaker, Tommy." Alfie confirmed. We all watched as Tatiana put a pale pink egg on the table. "I brought that from Crimea myself." she told us as Alfie went to pick it up. "Fucking hell." Alfie muttered. "With the provenance of that being laid by such a delicate beauty that does indeed bring the entire selection to £70,000." Alfie confirmed, placing it gently on the table.
Tommy spat in his hand beside me and offered it to Romanov who stared at him for a long moment before spitting in his own and taking Tommys. "Good man." Tommy said. "And now, Mr Shelby, you will join your brothers and Mr Solomons and Mrs Shelby will take their leave." the older woman told him. Tatiana's gaze came back to me and my eyes met hers. "Of course, you would be welcome to join your husband, Evelyn, but he was rather preoccupied before we came down here. He doesn't like sharing, but perhaps you don't mind." she smiled. My eyes flickered to Tommy and he was avoiding my gaze, confirming what she was saying. "My husband knows what he is doing." I told her, before turning to Alfie. "Shall we?" I asked, forcing a smile.
Alfie nodded curtly before standing. I threaded my arm through his as the three of us were led from the basement, passing the guards and barking dogs. Once we reached the front door, Alfie and I were handed our coats, slipping into them as music and laughter could be faintly heard. "I'll send John to come find you first thing." Tommy told me, watching my reaction closely. "Don't bother. This is too much." I told him, looking up at him. "You don't mean that, Eves." He said, lowly. "Go have fun, Thomas." I told him before kissing his cheek and turning to Alfie. He held his arm out for me and we both left the manor house together.
"Can you do me a favour, Alfie?" I asked as we walked down the long path. "I could do him in if you want, Evie, right, but it might affect my working relationship with Thomas, yeah?" He told me. I laughed lightly. "I don't want you to kill John. I just need you to drive me to Shoreditch then somewhere else." I told him as we reached the cars. He searched my face for a moment before nodding.
"I don't need you." I told the waiting driver. "Mr Shelby insisted that I take you straight to Shoreditch." He replied, unsure. "And which Mr Shelby was that?" I asked, venom in my voice. The man looked scared but didn't answer me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Let me put it this way, the only way I am getting in your car is if you carry me, kicking and screaming, and I am sure my good friend here would have objections to that." I said, gesturing to Alfie before continuing. "So why don't you toddle off in your little car and I'll tell Mr Shelby that you were a gentleman when I turned down the lift." I finished before turning to Alfie whose eyebrows were raised at me. He quickly opened the door to his car and gave me a hand in before going round to the drivers side. He shot me a look before starting the car and driving off.
A/N What do you think Evie is going to do? What do you think she should do?